Jimmy Carter, America’s national scold and serial diplomatic meddler, is headed for the Middle East next month, no doubt to lecture Israelis that their only hope for peace and security is to embrace Hamas.

Most Israelis long ago stopped paying attention to Carter’s incessant and dishonest preaching about their “apartheid” state.

This time ’round, no one will even pretend to listen: Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and President Reuven Rivlin have both turned down invitations to meet with Carter.

This isn’t mere personal pique: The decision to snub Carter was made after consultations with the Foreign Ministry and Israel’s National Security Council.

Rivlin actually met with Carter back in 2010 as speaker of the Knesset — and told him Israelis consider him a “Hamas supporter” who encourages terrorism. The description’s still quite accurate.

Truth be told, Israel should’ve declared Carter persona non grata years ago, and not just because of his unremitting hostility toward the Jewish state or his unabashed fondness for Palestinian terrorists going back to Yasser Arafat.

Refusing to cater to Carter is also a good way of reminding the world that the failed president, for all his public posturing (and Nobel Peace Prize ), is a private citizen with no actual standing.

He speaks for himself and only for himself, however often he presumes to represent the US government — as in 2012 when he welcomed the Muslim Brotherhood victory in Egypt’s elections.